Dementia test drops ‘Who is PM?’ question
No10 chaos makes it ‘unfair on patients’
SOCIAL workers may stop asking dementia patients who the Prime Minister is in memory tests due to the high turnaround at Number 10.
After three leaders in four months, it was felt the question was unfair as those without the disease may also struggle to name the current leader amid the Tory turmoil. Warnings were given in a training session for social workers about dementia patients in Derbyshire last week.
A source said: “They were updating things and advised not to use the PM question anymore.” Boris Johnson was ousted in July and replaced by Liz Truss, who quit last month after less than two months after her disastrous mini-budget crashed the economy. Rishi Sunak is the latest unelected Tory in No10.
Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “Patients can’t be expected to remember who the Prime Minister is. They change as often as the weather.”
Social workers are required to carry out cognitive impairment exams. They are a series of questions to assess memory problems. Tory-run Derbyshire County Council has denied the tests will be changed. The Government was approached for comment.